


Piano Playing

by moonlights0nata



Category: Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: And some small backstory for Meiru, F/M, Fluff, How she started playing the piano, Post-Canon, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 07:42:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3928606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlights0nata/pseuds/moonlights0nata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Meiru first began to play the piano. And then some Netto/Meiru fluff ♥</p>
            </blockquote>





	Piano Playing

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on my tumblr! http://moonlights0nata.tumblr.com/post/118821054084/piano-playing-fic

She hadn’t enjoyed playing the piano at first, Meiru reflected as she pressed the ever familiar keys of the instrument, allowing the quiet classroom to be filled with sound. The melody she played had started out slow, but had now picked up the pace, and was much quicker and livelier. The sun was setting outside, students rushing home already, but she had decided to stay and practice at the music room a bit longer, and indulge herself in the moment.

But yes, she hadn’t always liked it. It wasn’t as if she had started playing it because she had the desire to. Her mother simply thought piano lessons would be good for her, to have something to do while she was at work, and since they had an old piano at home, inherited from Meiru’s grandmother, Meiru had agreed to the idea. She remembered the way her grandma used to play it; maybe it was that, that got Meiru to agree. She had nothing better to do at the time, anyways.

The first lessons were tiring, she had a hard time reading the sheet music, and her instructor was strict and unpleasant. She had disliked the activity and the teacher instantly, but for some reason she kept going to the lessons; maybe it was because her teacher had lost all hope on her, had taunted her on giving up the idea of learning, and the fact that she wanted to prove him wrong and actually improve. She had started with the lessons, now she’d see them through. Even if her teacher thought she wouldn’t get better, she wanted to show him she could do it if she tried. She would learn, despite disliking piano.

And so she started practicing at home, this time really practicing. She’d sit down in front of the instrument, open the fallboard, and play for hours, the usually quiet house filled with music. Her mother was greeted more than once to her playing, and was pleased to see she had been practicing. “You must really like piano, huh?” She would say. Oh, if only she knew. But at some point, said statement stopped being a lie.

Meiru hadn’t showed up to piano lessons in a while, when she finally decided to go and show her teacher her progress, after weeks of practice. He had looked surprised by her arrival, thinking she had already quit. She had said nothing, as she approached the piano in the room, and began to play the piece he had been trying so hard to teach her before. He was left speechless, as he saw, heard, how much she had improved without him knowing it. It was far from perfect, the rhythm a little too quick, a little too slow here, but her improvement showed, and it had all been without his teaching. Once she was done playing, she had slid off her seat, turned to face him with a grin and said she wouldn’t be coming over for classes with him any longer. And with that she had turned around and left.

From then on piano had seemed more fun. She had started classes with a new teacher, who was much nicer and patient with her than the other. He was still a bit strict, but encouraged her to keep going. Meiru no longer thought playing the piano was boring, nor did she dislike it, like she had at first. The long hours she had spent practicing had made her realize just how fun and rewarding it could be. And as she grew up, and she kept learning, practicing, she came to love it. At times, she had fallen asleep on her chair, due to having practiced for too long. Her mother scolded her afterwards, telling her to take a break once in a while. But she would say, like before, “You must really love piano, huh?”. At that moment, Meiru would smile and say, honestly, that she really enjoyed it. And this time, it was true.

Lost in her playing, she had not heard the door of the classroom opening, or the footsteps of someone coming into the room. She was unaware of the other person’s presence, until they plopped on the remaining space of her seat. Although she had been startled by it she kept playing, glancing to the side to see who it was that had arrived. Seeing the unmistakable blue bandana, she smiled, and brown eyes looked back at her, flashing her a grin too. Meiru concentrated back on her playing, but now she was aware of Netto’s presence beside her.

He said nothing and let her continue, eyes closing and focusing solely on the music. Netto wouldn’t call himself a classical lover, but when it was Meiru playing, it was different. He could feel how passionate she was about it, and it was like that passion reverberated in every press of a key, every note.

After some time, the melody began to slow down, and eventually came to a closure. Meiru let her fingers linger on the keyboard just a bit longer before setting her hands down on her lap, and she turned her head to Netto. He still had his eyes closed, and Meiru found herself staring, at the way the sun reflected on his face and how peaceful he looked at that moment, such a rare sight in comparison to the usual hyperactive Netto.

“You are amazing.” The words caught Meiru of guard, and she realized Netto was staring back at her. She blinked, confused, feeling she had missed something.

“What do you mean?” She asked, with a tilt of her head.

“This.” Netto’s attention momentarily drifted to the piano keyboard, lifting his hand and pressing one, two keys, and then turned back to Meiru, eager smile on his face. “The way you play, It’s amazing. I never thought listening to piano playing could be fun.”

The honesty of his words made Meiru’s cheeks flush slightly, and she let out a nervous chuckle. “I-I’m not that great yet…I need a lot of practice still.” Her hand came up as well, pressing a few keys. “Especially if I want to participate in the contest this year…”

Netto’s fingers moved, idly continuing to touch or brush the keys, hand inching closer to hers without her noticing. “If it’s you, you can win that contest, I’m sure. Have some faith in yourself.”

 “You think so…?” It’s not that she thought she wouldn’t be able to perform well in the contest, she had confidence in her skills. But the idea of playing in front of a lot of people still made her nervous, and she wanted to be ready for it.

Netto nodded. “Yeah, of course I do.”

The conversation had distracted Meiru, and to her surprise, as her hand moved, her fingers brushed against Netto’s. She almost shied away from the touch, but instead she simply looked down at their hands, and her other hand curled in her lap and her face heated, when Netto rested his hand on top of hers. This was new, she thought. She spared a glance at Netto, and saw his gaze was fixed in their hands as well. In comparison to her hand, slender and long, Netto’s hand was much smaller. For a moment, she thought she saw a red tint on his cheeks too.

“…So…don’t overwork yourself too much, Meiru.” After a pause, Netto spoke again. He smiled up at her, and for a moment Meiru’s heart skipped a beat. She now noticed how close he was sitting to her, how their shoulders were practically touching. She saw one strand of his hair was loose, and she almost reached out with her other hand to put it back in place, but she suppressed herself from doing so. She wondered what had gotten over him; his tone was softer, lower than usual. In the pale light of the sunset he looked so mature…but then again, they were no longer kids.

“I’m the one who has to carry you home when you fall asleep here after practicing too much, after all. Did you know that you snore, by the way?” His tone held some teasing to it and, at the comment, Meiru puffed her cheeks. There he went again, teasing her, and flashing that cheeky smile. 

“I never asked you to carry me home. You could just wake me up, you know- And I don’t snore, you are making that up.”

Netto shook his head. “I would feel bad if I woke you up.” He laughed. “You snore. I heard it clearly, with your face so close to my ear.”

She frowned, feeling embarrassed. She slid her hand off his and grabbed her sheet book close by, hitting the top of Netto’s head with it. “I don’t snore, shut up!”

“H-Hey don’t hit me- And It’s true, want me to record it?“ That earned him another hit to the head. “Ouch!”

“Geez.” She huffed, grabbing her school bag from the floor beside the chair, and stood up. She put the sheet book inside the bag, and then looked outside. It was getting dark, she saw, how long had she been in the classroom? “…Should we head home? It’s pretty late already.”

Netto nodded, standing up too, and they both headed out of the classroom, and then out of the school. They were the only ones left in the school grounds, everyone else had gone home. They walked side by side down the road in comfortable silence for a while. Meiru was very aware of Netto’s presence next to her, much more than ever before. He was walking close to her, so close their hands were almost touching. When had they closed that gap? Or maybe, it had always been like this. Why was she only realizing it now?

A thought crossed her mind, and a bit bashfully, she glanced down at her feet, fiddling with her bag strap. “Hey, Netto…” Even without looking she could tell he had turned his head to look at her. “If…If I do participate in the contest would you…would you go watch it?” _Would you go watch me?_

Slowly, her hand closest to his moved, and she shyly intertwined her pinky with his. She could only see Netto’s face from the corner of her eye, so she almost didn’t notice he was startled by the action, and then his face reddened slightly. “It’d…be really reassuring to have you there.”

Now it was her turn to be surprised, when Netto slid his hand into hers and held it, loosely, the action seeming a little shy too. His palm was warm against hers, and her heart fluttered in her chest.

“Of course I would go.” Meiru lifted her head a little to peer at Netto’s face and saw him grinning, that bright, wide smile of his. His cheeks were now definitely red.  Their eyes met, and he blinked and quickly averted his gaze, embarrassed, and scratched the back of his head with his other hand. “I-I mean if you want me to be there…I’ll be. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

His words made her smile, and she looked in front of her again. She lightly squeezed his hand, and she had to suppress a giggle at Netto’s embarrassment.

“Thank you.” She muttered, and after a moment, she felt Netto squeeze her hand back. They walked the rest of the road home mostly in silence, the only sound being their footsteps and Meiru’s quiet humming.


End file.
